Hundreds march in L.A. protest against possible U.S. action on Syria

More than 200 demonstrators gathered along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles to protest the possible U.S. involvement in Syria on Sunday. The protest brought out police in riot gear to try and contain the protest to the sidewalks.
david crane — staff photographer

Some 200 protesters gathered at a busy Hollywood intersection Sunday afternoon to voice opposition to a potential military strike on Syria and police said at least two demonstrators were arrested.

Protesters chanted “Hands Off Syria” and waved large Syrian flags at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue as President Barack Obama seeks congressional authorization for a strike in response to an alleged chemical attack U.S. officials say was carried out by the Syrian regime.

Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Cory Palka of the Hollywood Patrol Division said the two arrests involved a known protester who had a previous warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear in court and the other was arrested on suspicion of interfering with a police investigation.

Palka, however, called the protest, which had shrunk considerably by 6 p.m. Sunday evening, “very peaceful” and said there was “minimal traffic disruption” due to scores of bicycle, mounted horse and motorcycle officers in the vicinity.

Jodi Peters, 42, of Vista said she made the trip from San Diego County to urge for further diplomatic efforts rather than resorting to U.S. military intervention.

“If this crime has been committed it’s the United Nation’s job to go in and work harder on the diplomacy and work harder on whoever has done something wrong,” said Peters, who was standing at the intersection and carrying a sign that said “We Cannot Kill Our Way to Peace.” “More wars, even if it was the appropriate response, is not something we can do right now as a country” since “we can’t afford it.”

J.B. Smith, 50, of Temecula said bombing Syria would not help the situation and could lead the U.S. into another protracted and bloody war like the ones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Blowing up people just destabilizes them and 10 years later, people are still getting blown up in Iraq,” he said. “They say we’ve got evidence that (the chemical attack) was done by Assad’s forces but there is no evidence.”

Among the protesters was a contingent of Syrian-Americans who waved Syrian flags with Bashar Assad’s face imprinted on it and who said they fully supported the embattled Arab leader.

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“We don’t need war anymore, we don’t need more blood, we don’t need more innocent people getting killed,” Syrian-American Pieer Mansour of Burbank said. “We like (Assad)...He’s a moderate president. He’s very intelligent...There should be a peaceful solution, not war.”

His wife, Amira Azri, claimed atrocities being committed by the rebels, including rapes, were not being reported and stressed that al-Qaida-linked fighters were on the side of the rebels.

Syrian-American Linda Roboz, 17, of Granada Hills called Assad “my president” and said reports of what has been occurring in Syria are all wrong.

“I want America to know that he’s not doing anything to bomb Syria,” the Christian teenager, who appeared near tears, said. “He loves his children; he wouldn’t do anything to hurt his children...He’s protecting his people.”

Protester Bana Haffar, who described herself as a Canadian of Arab descent, said the Middle East was a tinderbox that would explode if there was a U.S. military strike in Syria.

“I don’t think it can be limited because there are so many different factions and the situation would escalate further,” she said.

Haffar added that she suspected the U.S. may have been involved in the alleged chemical attack against the Syrian people.

“I think they are behind it maybe because they want to go in there, destabilize the whole Arab world, destroy, build, destroy and make a profit,” Haffar, a musician, said.